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Stanley Kubrick

Stanley Kubrick directs costume drama Barry Lyndon
  • Posted at 1:25pm
  • 11 July 2008
  • by AndrewCollins-RT

Stanley Kubrick was the greatest American director this country ever produced. Although born in New York, he found England more to his liking than Hollywood and was based here for almost 40 years – hence, one of ours.

Aside from his rarely seen 1950s documentary shorts, Day of the Fight and Flying Padre, we're talking big, bold, headline movies. He made just 13 features in 46 years, but their sheer thematic breadth marks him out as a mould-breaker.

Having shot both the moral-panic-inducing Lolita and nihilistic Dr Strangelove here in the early 1960s, "Our Stan" declared that, "Next to Hollywood, London is probably the second best place to make a film, because of the degree of technical expertise and facilities you find in England."

Certainly, 2001: a Space Odyssey might not have been the marvel it was without the resourcefulness and imagination of Douglas Trumbull and his effects team at Elstree in Hertfordshire. Kubrick made the county his home and a fear of flying served to keep him there.

He was known as a recluse, although this was refuted by his family. His daughter Anya said, "His work was famous, but his face was not, so he could go into St Albans, M&S and Waitrose . . . and nobody would pay him any mind."

Of his limited CV, the moving First World War drama Paths of Glory was the last fully fledged Kubrick feature to be shot abroad – in Munich.

Much of its follow-up, Spartacus, was filmed in Madrid, but Kubrick as good as disowned it as he was drafted in to replace Anthony Mann after rows with producer/star Kirk Douglas.

After Lolita in 1961, his films were made in England, no matter where they were set, whether that be Colorado for The Shining, Vietnam in Full Metal Jacket or the infinite reaches of the cosmos in 2001.

Clearly, this was an advantage when shooting Thackeray's 18th-century English romp Barry Lyndon, less so when re-creating New York for his final film, Eyes Wide Shut, in which the street scenes look almost quaintly fake.

Kubrick died in his sleep at the Hertfordshire pile in 1999, aged 70. A police spokesman reported no suspicious circumstances. Quite why this needed stating following the peaceful passing of a legend is anyone's guess.

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